The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the Vegas Golden Knights into Nationwide Arena on Thursday. The Blue Jackets won their only meeting of the season in Vegas back on Jan. 30 in OT
This game is important for Columbus, there’s no doubt about that. Thursday’s game is the first of a four-game homestand that concludes next Thursday against Florida.
Vegas is 7-2-1 in their last 10 and is atop the Pacific Division, but they’ve lost their last two games against LA and Pittsburgh.
The Golden Knights are an elite team but are just 14-12-4 on the road. The Jackets are very good at home, so look for this game to be a barnburner.
Golden Knights Stats
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Power Play – 28.9% – 2nd in NHL
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Penalty Kill – 76.2% – 23rd in NHL
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Goals For – 214 – 6th – 3.34 GPG – 5th
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Goals Against – 175 – 8th – 2.73 GPG – 9th
Series History vs. The Golden Knights
Who To Watch For The Golden Knights
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Jack Eichel leads the VGK with 58 assists and 78 points.
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Tomas Hertl leads Vegas with 27 goals.
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Goalie Aiden Hill is 23-11-4 with a .904 SV%.
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Ilya Samsonov is 15-8-3 with a .889 SV%.
CBJ Player Notes vs. Golden Knights
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Zach Werenski has 8 points in 11 games vs. Vegas
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Kirill Marchenko has 4 points in 4 games.
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Elvis Merzļikins is 3-1 with a .930 SV% vs. the Golden Knights.
Injuries
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Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16 (61 Games)
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Sean Monahan (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (23 Games)
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Kevin Labanc (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve as of Feb. 21 and out for the season (8 Games)
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Cole Sillinger is day-to-day with an upper body injury (5 Games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 274
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight’s game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
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